It’s traditional for New Japan Young Lions (rookies and second-year wrestlers) to head overseas after their first or second year for more training, although that’s not always the case (Kosei Fujita didn’t). Two more are about to embark on that next step of their careers-Katsuya Murashima, who just won the Young Lions Cup, and Shoma Kato are about to leave for their traditional excursions. Murashima will have his pre-departure match at THE NEW BEGINNING on 2/11 in Osaka, which will be Murashima & Kato vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano. Murashima’s training destination is undecided. Kato will depart after the CMLL FANTASTICAMANIA 2026 finale on 2/27 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with a match TBA, then he will head to Mexico which probably means CMLL.
It’s not known how long they’ll be gone but these training excursions usually last anywhere from a few months to 1-2 years.